About being alive / Wild Geese, Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Published by unraveling

Life is a constant unraveling of stories and intricate understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. The process of writing can be liberating and transforming and I wanted to try it in this context of blogging.
My wish is that my words can matter and even create a spark or two of recognition in another. I want to be willing and vulnerable enough to dare greatly and write as if no one was watching. I wish you all the very best.
View all posts by unraveling

About

Life is a constant unraveling of stories and intricate understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. The process of writing can be liberating and transforming and I wanted to try it in this context of blogging.
My wish is that my words can matter and even create a spark or two of recognition in another. I want to be willing and vulnerable enough to dare greatly and write as if no one was watching. I wish you all the very best.